SIX Caloocan City cops who allegedly robbed a sidewalk vendor of P14,000 last week were relieved by PNP chief Gen. Dionardo Carlos yesterday to face administrative investigation.
“The involved personnel were immediately relieved so a fair investigation can proceed without any undue influence. They are now under restrictive custody, and disarmed of their service firearms,” Carlos said.
The six were Noel Espejo Sison, 33; Rommel Toribio, 29; Ryan Sammy Gomez Mateo, 32; Jake Barcenilla Rosima, 35; Mark Christian Abarca Cabanilla, 31; and Daryl Calija Sablay, 29, all with the rank of corporals.
They were sacked from the Drug Enforcement Unit (DEU) of the Caloocan City police station after they figured in the alleged March 27 robbery of 39-year-old vendor Eddie Acaso Yuson.
Yuson claimed he was on the way to a fast-food chain to buy food for his family when one of the policemen frisked him and took his P14,000 cash. The five other suspects later arrived aboard a pick-up truck.
The cash reportedly taken by the policemen was given by the Department of Social Welfare and Development, through the help of Caloocan City Rep. Dale Malapitan, who is running for mayor in the coming elections.
The incident was caught on close circuit television camera and a video of the incident was uploaded by Yuson’s daughter on Facebook.
“We don’t want this isolated incident to tarnish the reputation of the entire organization. They will undergo the process of adjudication to ferret out the truth,” said Carlos.
PNP spokeswoman Col. Jean Fajardo said the policemen claimed Yuson looked into their vehicle carrying “police assets” who are helping in an anti-drug operation they were about to conduct in the area.
“That prompted one of our operatives to approach him (Yuson),” Fajardo said, adding the policemen interrogated the vendor, frisked him, and asked him why he looked into their vehicle.
Fajardo said the policemen denied taking the P14,000 cash of Yuson. But he said the policemen were at fault for hitting the victim in his neck.
Fajardo said Yuson has initially expressed no interest in filing criminal charges against the policemen but said the PNP administrative investigation against them will proceed.
Fajardo said the PNP will assist Yuson if he later decides to pursue robbery charges against the policemen.
Fajardo said the immediate superior of the six policemen, a major, was also relieved from his post.
